UMUR Following up on "They Rise (2007)", "Horror Holocaust" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Denial Fiend. The album was released in August 2011 by Ibex Moon Records. Denial Fiend is a kind of thrash/death metal supergroup featuring members and ex-members of acts such as Massacre, Death, The Accüsed, Obituary, D.R.I. and Six Feet Under.

There´s been a change of drummer since the debut album but maybe more importantly Kam Lee (Massacre, Bone Gnawer, Skincrawler...etc.) has been replaced by Blaine Cook (The Accüsed, Toe Tag). Where Kam Lee is a growling type vocalist, Blaine Cook is more in the crossover thrashy aggressive sneer catagory. The change of vocalist results in "Horror Holocaust" being a raw old school thrash metal album rather than a raw old school death/ thrash ditto, which is probably the tag I´d put on "They Rise".

You get 8 tracks distributed over 29:46 minutes of playing time. It´s both raw and charming (if you can appreciate Blaine Cook´s crossover punky/thrashy vocal style) but it would be a stretch to say that these guys have an original style or that they execute their style in a way that sets them apart from the majority of acts playing the same style. The quality of the material and the sound production are solid, but "Horror Holocaust" somehow fail to leave a lasting impression on me. A 3 star rating is fair.

Time Signature Metal coffin...

Genre: thrash metal

Do you like horror? Do you like thrash metal? Yes? Then you are going to love Denial Fiend's sophomore full-length album "Horror Holocaust".

Musically, we are dealing with very solid mid- to uptempo thrash metal with a couple of heavy and groovy sections every now and then. The riffage, which ranges from primitive and evil riffs to semi-technical and evil riffs, is crushing, aggressive and incredibly solid - and thrash as hell. There are a couple of melodic passages and other melodic elements every now and then (such as many of the guitar solos which are often more rock- than metal-oriented), and these fit perfectly into the overall picture of the music.

The vocals may be hard to swallow for some listeners, but personally I think that the very angry vocal delivery - imbued with screams, snarls and plenty of fuck-you attitude suits the overall feel of the music on this album. The production, which is not too polished, but not too raw either, also has a certain fuck-you authenticity to it, which is most welcome.

"Horror Holocaust" by Denial Fiend should, with its crushing riffage and angry vocals and its horror-based violent lyrical universe, be an instant thrash metal classic - any fan of old school thrash metal should purchase it.